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Tag: William Saliba

  • William slams Arteta over Arsenal usage

    William slams Arteta over Arsenal usage

    William Saliba admits he was ‘hurt’ being frozen out by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

    The French defender, who arrived at the Emirates with much fanfare, was left out of the club’s Premier League and Europa League squads.

    Now on loan with Nice, Saliba says he was surprised by Arteta’s decision.

    “I really, really, really didn’t think that I would be transferred for €30m, to think that I would arrive, where people were expecting a lot from me, the fans excited about me and you find yourself in the reserves,” Saliba told TF1.

    “To play zero, zero nothing in the Europa League or the league. I was in the squad once in the league cup. It hurt me, it affected me.

    “I don’t think I left too early. When you feel ready you have to go. I don’t think I left too early. These things happen. I believe in myself.’”

    Pushed on his future plans, Saliba did not rule out a return to his homeland on a permanent basis.

    He added: “I am just focused on doing the absolute most and best possible for the next 6 months. After that, we will see.”

  • Saliba breaks silence on what Arteta told him

    Saliba breaks silence on what Arteta told him

    William Saliba has admitted that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told him he wasn’t ready for first team football, before the club decided to loan him to Nice.

    The centre-back joined the French side on loan for the remainder of the season, after failing to make a single Premier League appearance for the Gunners.

    Arteta has claimed that he was not ready for first-team football, but Saliba has argued that he should have been given a chance to prove himself.

    “The coach immediately told me that I was not ready. I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm,” he told the media on Friday.

    “My first six months were difficult, because I was coming from six months where I wasn’t able to train because I was at home and couldn’t train outside, couldn’t play.

    “I arrived there as they were finishing the league season, so I was training alone. As soon as they came back from holidays, we quickly had the first friendly matches where I lacked rhythm and was a bit insufficient physically.”

  • Mikel Arteta ‘fed up’ with William situation at Arsenal

    Mikel Arteta ‘fed up’ with William situation at Arsenal

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits he is ‘fed up’ with William Saliba’s situation at the club.

    The Gunners were unable to loan the 19-year-old defender – signed in 2019 – and he was left out of their Europa League and Premier League squads.

    “I’m fed up with the situation because as you could see, we tried to find a way in the last few days [of the transfer window] to give him some football,” Arteta told reporters on Wednesday.

    “I explained that he needed that transition year when we decided to buy him and send him on loan to Saint-Etienne. For many reasons, that didn’t happen and he didn’t have that transition year.

    “He needs to go through that and, at the moment, with the amount of central defenders that we have in the team, we had to let him out of the squad which is painful. After that, we had some injuries and we could have used him but it’s part of this profession.”

    Asked about a possible loan exit for Saliba in 2021, Arteta said: “Well, I don’t know. We certainly tried in the last few days of the transfer window to find the right club and we had him, but at the end of the day we could not make it and we will review the situation in the next few weeks and sit down with him as well and see what is the best thing to do. But it will depend on him and other players’ situations as well.”